HOUSE ACTS TO ALLOW ANGOLA REBEL AID

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00965R000302150004-0
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: September 27, 2012
• Sequence Number: 4
• Publication Date: July 11, 1985
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

STAT
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/09/27 : CIA-RDP90-00965R000302150004-0
As
NEW YORK TIMES
11 July 1985
House Acts to Allow Angola e sel Aid
By JONATHAN FUERBRINGER
Special to The New York Times
WASHINGTON, July 10? The House
of Representatives voted tonight to re-
peal the ban. on United States military
aid to the guerrillas fighting the Marx-
ist Government of Angola. The vote
was 236 to 185 on an amendment W the
foreign aid authorization bill.
The Senate has approved a similar
repeal, which means it is likely that the
ban, first approved in 1976, will be re-
pealed this year. But the Senate repeal
was attached to a different piece of
legislation, the State Department au-
thorization act, and it is possible that
the entire foreign aid authorization bill
will not be approved in the House.
In the House vote, 176 Republicans
were joined by 60 Democrats in favor of
repeal; 179 Democrats and 6 Republi-
cans opposed repeal.
The vote, which is a major reversal,
reflects a growing sentiment in the
House for aiding groups that are fight-
ing Communist and other leftist gov-
ernments. On Tuesday, the House ap-
proved $5 million in aid to the non-Com,
munist rebels fighting the Vietnamese-
controlled Government of Cambodia.
The House has also approved aid to the
insurgents in Afghanistan and nonmili-
tary aid to Nicaraguan rebels.
The amendment approved today was
proposed by Representatives Samuel
S. Stratton of New York and Claude
Pepper of Florida, both Democrats. It
only removes the ban it does not pro-
vide any financing for military aid.
Those supporting the amendment
said it would show that the United
States opposed Communism in Africa
and, as Mr. Pepper said, had "not
washed our hands of Angola. Those
people in Africa have the right to be
free." The Reagan Administration sup-
ports repeal.
Opponents argued that repealing the
ban would indicate support for the
apartheid policy of South Africa,
against which the House has approved
economic sanctions. In addition, they
argued, it would imply support of the
South African Government's military
actions in South-West Africa and Ango-
la.
'Majority Rule' Seen as Issue
"The issue in southern Africa is not
Communist expansion, it's majority
rule," said Representative William H.
Gray 3d, Democrat of Pennsylvania.
He said repealing the ban, known as the
Clark Amendment after former Sena-
tor Dick Clark of Iowa, would "support
tip continued suppression of the ma-
jority there."
The so-called Clark Amendment had
banned aid to the pro-Western National
Union for the Total Independence of
Angola, which is led by Jonas Savimbi.
The vote came as the House contin-
ued work on the $12.6 billion foreign aid
authorization bill. At the same time,
the Senate began today to consider a
bill imposing sanctions on the South Af-
rican Government. It Was being
blocked from moving to approval, how-
ever, by opposition led by Senator
Jesse Helms, Republican of North
Carolina.
Measures
on Family Planning
Earlier today, the House approved
two amendments to the foreign aid bill
that restrict funding for family plan-
ning. One allows the cutoff of funds to
international organizations if abortion
is promoted by the family planning
programs these organizations support.
The second amendment, which is
aimed at China, allows the cutoff of
funding for the United Nations Fund for
Populations Activities, if it provides di-
rect or indirect assistance to countries
that officially permit forced abortion.
After the Senate voted to 8 to block
a filibuster on the motion to begin de-
bate on the South African bill, Senator
Helms indicated that he might extend
the debate by reading a history of South
Africa.
The bill would apply economic sanc-
tions against South Africa, banning
new bank loans, the sale of computers
to agencies like the police that enforce
the policy of apartheid, and the sale of
goods used in nuclear production. The
bill would also require Ameritan com-
panies of 25 or more employees to fol-
low the so-called Sullivan principles,
which mandate equal treatment of
blacks in jobs and housing.
Senator Alan Cranston, Democrat of
California, in denouncing Senator
Helms's delaying tactics, said:
"If the Senator from North Carolina
had been in the Senate 122 years ago, he
probably would have opposed Emanci-
pation because it would have thrown
four million slaves out of work."
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/09/27: CIA-RDP90-00965R000302150004-0